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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23835682">The Aftermath</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylsprena/pseuds/sylsprena'>sylsprena</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Until Dawn (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Big angst, Gen, Sole Survivor Jessica Riley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:14:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23835682</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylsprena/pseuds/sylsprena</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jessica Riley<br/>Time of Death: XX:XX</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Past Jessica Riley/Mike Munroe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>TRIGGER WARNINGS:<br/>Panic attack, referenced self harm, depression, grief, loss, scars (slight body horror)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>2:36 a.m.</p><p> </p><p>Jess had always loved her room. When her parents moved to Lewisville, they picked a three bedroom home in a nice suburban neighborhood, and--being an only child--Jess got to choose between two rooms. Of course, she'd picked the bigger one with the wider window. She loved how much space she had, a drastic change from the apartment her family had lived in before. She was only 13 when they moved.</p><p>Now, as she laid in bed, sheets gripped tightly close to her chest, she wished that there wasn't so much room. It only made her feel even more alone.</p><p>Jess wiped the tears brimming in her eyes and took a deep breath. The effort was wasted as her chest rose only a centimetre, and fell only as far as it could before her skin dug into her ribs. Lately, eating hadn't been easy for her. She'd sworn off meat ever since . . . the mountain--and since starting Pristiq, her appetite rose and fell at random.</p><p>After a few more breaths, the silent tears began to stretch into sobs. Her body shook as a cascade of memories came flooding to her mind.</p><p>Jess remembered only a few years ago, the trip she'd taken to the coast with the Washingtons. Sam and Chris had been there too--being closest to Hannah and Josh. And she was . . . Well, she was Beth's best friend.</p><p>Jess closed her eyes and suddenly it was dusk. A clear sky shown with pinks and oranges and blue hovered above the scene. Beneath it, waves rocked to the shore in fluid motions, echoing through open, wide space. Jess turned her head at the sound of Beth's voice.</p><p>"Jess! C'mon girl, we've gotta go!"</p><p>Jess sighed and jogged a few feet across the sand, catching up to her friends. She stopped, pulling Beth's wrist to a stop.</p><p>"I know you're super hyped about that pizza but look at this <em>view.</em>"</p><p>Jess motioned to the waves and the darkening blue sky behind it. A cool breeze swept towards them, blowing Beth's bangs back across her forehead.</p><p>The latter rolled her eyes.</p><p>"We'll see it again tomorrow. Let's just get back, ok? Before Josh and Chris eat everything."</p><p>"Ugh. They would, wouldn't they?"</p><p>Beth smiled, and Jess held her breath. She looked from Beth's cunning gaze to the wide expanse before them. A moment passed before Beth spoke, her voice soft.</p><p>"It's beautiful."</p><p>Jess swallowed, and nodded in agreement.</p><p>"Right?"</p><p> </p><p>She opened her eyes. The sound of the water on the shore was gone, replaced by a far way ringing. The dim light shining through her bedroom window had moved slightly up her bed since the last time she looked. Her pillowcase was wet. And she felt incredibly heavy, and yet impossibly light.</p><p>Jess blinked and tried to get herself to move. She felt numb, and it took a concerning amount of effort to turn her head to face the ceiling.</p><p>1 year. Eight months.</p><p>That's how long it had been since Hannah and Beth . . . disappeared. It had only been eight months since Blackwood. Eight months since everything she'd ever known was taken away--eaten whole by some devastating fucking curse. By the wendgo.</p><p>Jess flinched as images flooded into her mind, this time much less pleasant. For a moment, she felt a cold, bony hand grip her ankle, and she sat up immediately, kicking the sheet instinctively away. With wide eyes, she searched the darkness of the room. Thoughts began to swarm inside her mind.</p><p>"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"</p><p>She swore under her breath as the panic began to settle in again.</p><p>The next few--however long it was--was filled with images, instead of thoughts, for words were too slow. Fear gripped Jessica, no longer from the wendigo, but from the thoughts and feelings she held at bay. Feelings she tried desperately to distract herself from.</p><p>She saw Mike, leaning over her in the mine--the last time she'd ever see him. A flicker of fangs and skin pulled taught across elongated bone. Then darkness. She couldn't move. Covered with wounds.</p><p>Jess unconsciously touched the scar along her stomach, and cringed,</p><p>Her friends' faces flashed in her mind--Mike's charming smile, Sam's laugh, Ashley's adorable pout. Chris's false bravado at a party, and Josh's smug grin when he noticed it. Emily's bitchy but endearing frown. Matt's honest gaze.</p><p>Hannah running off into the night. Beth smiling as a beautiful sunset ducked behind a sea of crystal clear waves.</p><p> </p><p>Jess didn't notice at first when the sob left her lips. She'd become so accustomed to the sensation of holding her breath that she barely recognized she was hyperventilating. That is, until the lack of air sent her bending over her bed, fingers clawing at the sheets.</p><p>
  <em>I don't belong here.</em>
</p><p>The thought hit her even as the overwhelming urge to do something--to stop the horrible dread and the pain coursing through her veins. Desperately, Jess dug her feet into the mattress and held on for dear life. She couldn't let herself get up. She knew what she would do if she did.</p><p>The panic lasted for what seemed like a lifetime before finally, Jess's mind began to clear.</p><p>She let her fingers relax against the bed, and her feet fell limp. With one final burst of strength, Jess turned into her pillow, lying on her stomach. Then, she was still.</p><p>Exhaustion overcame her, and her ears rang somewhere in the back of her mind.</p><p>She took a breath--shallow, and short.</p><p> </p><p><em>I don't belong here,</em> she thought. <em>I can't keep living like this . . . In this reality.</em></p><p> </p><p>Jessica Riley was dead. She'd died that night, along with all of her closest friends. And now here she was, whatever was left, trying to build something of nothing.</p><p>Maybe one day it would get easier. Hell, maybe she'd even be happy again. <em>Truly</em> happy. But if that day was coming, Jess didn't know. All she knew was now. The sleepless nights, the suffocating days, the temporary highs, and the horrible loneliness. The gut wrenching grief, and of course--regret.</p><p>It was hell. But Jess had survived that night on Blackwood mountain. That was the truth, as much as it hurt. The question was, was it a mistake, or was there a reason Jess made it out alive?</p><p>And that's what kept her breathing. Because it was no gift to make it through that night. It was a burden. She only hoped that she could do whatever task she needed--whatever purpose kept her from dying in those mines. She'd do it for them. And someday, when the time was right, she'd join them. Until then, she'd stay. She'd hurt, and she'd heal, and she'd work.</p><p> </p><p>This was life, in the afermath.</p>
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